NYT and AP Censor Their Own Articles

New York Times and Associated Press erased from their previous articles the information that many of the Muslims participating in the solidarity mass in Rouen were actually Ahmadiyya, the persecuted Islamic sect by mainstream Sunnis not even considered to be Muslims.

In the first version of the AP report, published also by NYT, on how the Muslim community in France protest against terrorism targeted at the Catholic Church it informed that: “Many of the Muslims who attended the service in Rouen — including those with the banner — were Ahmadiyya Muslims, a minority sect that differs from the mainstream Islam in that it doesn’t regard Muhammad as the final prophet.” This information can be still found in Times, Daily Mail etc. but it is no longer available in NYT and AP.

Muslims were supposed to attend Sunday masses at French churches as a sign of solidarity with Christians after the ISIS related terrorists killed an 85-old-year priest in a church in Normandy. The call for solidarity was issued by the French Council of Muslim Faith CFCM and a lot of observers were interested in its actual reception. The information that Ahmadis were the majority of Muslims present at churches shows the widening gap between mainstream Muslims and the French society.

Ahmadiyya itself is persecuted by Sunni Muslims, mainly in Pakistan, but also recently in United Kingdom an Ahmadi shop owner was killed by a Muslim in Glasgow. Shortly after that Muslim Council of Britain, representative body of Muslims, ordered investigation to tackle anti-Ahmadiyya prejudices in Muslim community and named for investigative panel Allama Sahid Raza Naeemi, a preacher notorious for his anti-Ahmadi sermons.